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Five months into the 2024 international signing period, the Oakland A’s have signed a highly regarded amateur left-hander out of Taiwan. Wei-En Lin, 18, officially inked his deal on Thursday at a press conference in Taiwan.
Lin is a graduate of Ping-Zhen High School. He recently represented Taiwan in the WBSC U-23 tournament, throwing 13 innings without allowing an earned run. He struck out 14 while walking one. According to the Taiwanese baseball blog CPBL Stats, Lin’s fastball has topped out at 92 mph.
“He’s a 6-foot-3, broad-shouldered athlete with command of his fastball, an advanced ability to land the slider and a plus changeup,” said Steven Sharpe, the A’s international scouting director.
WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup
Team Taiwan’s 林維恩 (Lin Wei-En) allowed 1 run on 6 hits and struck out 6 over 5.1 innings against Korea. Lin’s fastball velocity topped out at 148 kph. pic.twitter.com/XQz2vjA8aO
— CPBL STATS 🪬🔮 (@GOCPBL) September 3, 2023
Sharpe didn’t confirm the bonus amount but said it’s in the same neighborhood of the two largest bonuses they gave at the start of the international signing period to Venezuelan outfielder Jose Ramos and Dominican shortstop Edgar Montero, both of which were reported to be $1.2 million.
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Lin has been a well-known prospect in Taiwan for several years now, starting when he was an 11-year-old and pitched in both the semi-final and final games on the same day for his Little League team, winning both and throwing more than 200 pitches in the process. The A’s have been scouting Lin heavily since he started at Ping-Zhen High School.
“He’s a well-rounded talent, with elite mental skills,” Sharpe said. “He can be as good as his health and good fortune will allow.”
Lin’s signing scout is Adam Hislop, the A’s Asia area scout. Lin is the third pitcher out of Taiwan the A’s have signed in the past three years. In November 2021, the A’s signed right-hander Chen Zhong-Ao Zhuang and last February they inked right-hander Tzu-Chen Sha. Zhuang missed last season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, but he’s off to a strong start this year, with a 2.23 ERA and a 42:6 K:BB in 36 1/3 innings for Low-A Stockton and High-A Lansing. Sha is currently with Stockton and he has a 4.69 ERA in 40 1/3 innings.
Sharpe says the A’s will continue to be active scouting in Taiwan.
“We’ve been early and aggressive in this market, even missed out on a couple kids we liked before getting these recent three,” he said. “There’s a real chance Major League Baseball will have a handful of Taiwanese players in the big leagues very soon. Several quality players are climbing through the minor-league ranks at this moment.”
(Photo: Alex Trautwig / MLB via Getty Images)
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